Well the basic rules of manhood, if I were to put them this way are no sussy
(sic) stuff, that’s the first rule. You can never do anything that even remotely
hints of femininity. The second rule is to be a big wheel. You know, we measure
masculinity by the size of your pay check, wealth, power, status, things like that.
The third rule is to be sturdy oak. You show that you’re a man by never showing
your emotions. And the fourth rule is Give ‘Em Hell. Always go forward, exude
an aura of daring and aggression in everything that you do. And this model of
masculinity has been around for an awfully long time. But consistently it’s been
eroded by a lot of other things.
This idea of masculinity is well represented in Mahesh Dattani’s Dance Like a Man
where Amritlal’s obsession of making a ‘man’ out of his son, Jairaj, destroys not only the
latter’s career but also leaves an indelible mark on his personality. Such rigid demarcations
of the masculine and feminine are in sharp contrast to the ancient practices of Hinduism
which provides ample instances of gender fluidity among deities. For instance,
Ardhanareeshwara, which is an androgynous form of God Shiva and Goddess Parvati,
suggests how the synthesis of the masculine and feminine energies of the universe is the
very essence of all creations. The most masculine of Hindu gods, Shiva, is also the father
of Ayyappa—a product of the former’s liaison with Mohini (a female avatar of Lord
Vishnu). Maheshwar is also deified as Nataraj, the Lord of Dance. Not surprisingly,
major dance forms like Kathakali, Chauu, Theyyam have long been considered men’s
domain. In fact, dancing was discouraged among girls in respectable families as it was
seen as a chief quality of devadasis and prostitutes. However, Dattani exposes the irony
that, in contemporary India, classical dance is no longer associated with the male and has
in fact been reduced to a means for the other sex to achieve stardom. In several of his
works, men are shown as victims of an intolerant society which tries to straighten them
up; more so because such girly attributes are often associated with homosexuality.
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